OK, so heres the deal:

I have a bone stock 75 1.8 that I cant get running.

I just drove it up to Colorado from Reno & it ran just about perfectly

...til about a week after I got here & it started hesitating at higher RPMs
then stopped running all together

after some fiddling around with it (checking connections, making sure there weren't any vacuum leaks) I got it to run for around another week.

now its down & I cant keep it running.

I can get it started, it'll run for about 30 seconds, then just dies
& if I wait a little bit it'll start again & do the same.

its getting fuel & air, so I figured it must be spark & after new plugs, wires & rotor its still doing the same thing.

I'm out of ideas anyone else have any?

Sounds like fuel to me. Did you have the tank out recently for any reason? A kink in the fuel lines will allow a small amount of fuel to flow, but will 'run out' rather quickly.

Or crud in the filter....

no the tank hasn't been out

& I pulled the fuel line, ran it into a water bottle & cranked it. its getting plenty of fuel & has good pressure it seems

I should replace the filter for good measure but there doesn't seem to be a blockage...

could it be the coil?

When I first got my car it was doing the same thing. Mine turned out to be the fuse for the fuel pump was coming disconnected from the socket. It was pretty corroded. I guess the vibration would knock it loose enough to kill the fuel pump after the car started. The only way I found it was by accidentally hitting it when I had the engine compartment relay cover off. I got lucky and saw it spark.

The AAR is also on the same circuit and could be causing problems with the fuel pump.

Do you have points or electronic ignition. I had a pertronix just go out while I was at a stop sign...sometimes they can go only partially out and drive you crazy.

If it's flooding out, it could be the temp sensor.

I don't know if it's the same on a 1.8, but I had problems with a relay board on a 1.7. Only failed intermittantly, when it go hot.

I have points.
& I just changed the rotor (checked the cap & its all good)

does anyone have a diagram of what relays/ fuses do what? so I can maybe track it down?

better yet wheres a good place to get a FSM? maybe a microfiche on cd?

oh & McMark whats the AAR?

well if it stays running past that initial 30 seconds its good. I can drive it around all day

but theres no telling if the next time I get into the thing it'll even start...

The AAR is the Auxiliary Air Regulator (yes?) it lets in more air on warm up then is *supposed* to close when it warms up (small electric coil inside). It's a small canister (about 1.5 inch diameter and 2 inches tall) and has a vacuum hose from the top of the air filter to it and then another from it to under the plenum or throttle body.

Thank you! I was wondering what that thing did...

Do we need any more reasons to convert to carbs?

It's dangerous, but I've used a mist bottle (wearing leather gloves and fire extinguisher within reach) and sprayed fuel into the intake. If it runs a little, then it's an FI problem, if natta then it's ignition. I know it's not the safest method but it works.

Check inside the tank, it could have a bunch of rust in there that's plugging things up. Mine would run fine at idle (even revving it, and get a couple miles down the road and then barely run for , so get a flashlight if you can and look down into the tank, it might be ready for some cleaning.

my rusty fuel tank thread

Sounds like you're getting enough fuel from the cold start valve to get it started but not continue to run.

Check your double-relay connections, and make sure your resistor pack isn't disconnected.

And your points!